I had the loveliest time last night, chatting with two old friends. The three of us have known each other over twenty years, since our high school days. There is nothing quite like the comfort of talking to other mothers who know your mother, know your family, know your story and your history. You don’t spend time explaining: you get to move immediately to the heart level and talk about how you are really doing. It is so refreshing for all three of us to get to connect as friends, mothers, wives and women. What a privilege to get together with these two women.

We have discovered that at this time in our lives, the easiest time to get together is after the kids are in bed, in the evening. And even then we can only make our schedules coincide every third month or so. For years we met over coffee, and perhaps someday we will again. In the meantime I will drink to Lindsey and Betsy this week as I enjoy my morning cup of coffee.

You too can drink to friends old and new this week with some great locally roasted coffee. How is that for a segue? We’ve got a fun coffee option for you today. Last week I wrote about how our Organic Timor is a wet-processed bean. Well this week Trace, our roaster, decided to let you taste the difference that processing can make to a coffee. We have two Balinese coffees brewed this week (#2 and #3 in the pump pots), and the biggest difference between them is that one is a natural, or dry-processed coffee, while the other is a washed bean.

With a wet-processed bean, as we discussed last week, the fruit is removed by washing before the bean is dried. In dry-processing, the red cherry is left intact while drying. This causes a natural fermentation to occur, and a natural coffee tends to have much fruitier flavors when it is brewed. These two Organic Balinese coffees prove this to be true, with the washed one (#3) tasting bold and full-bodied, like a classic Indonesian coffee. The natural (#2) has notes of fruit, wine and berries.

We are doing something different this week with our free cup, so that you can sample both of these coffees. When you use the code red cherry*, we will give you two four ounce cups, so that you can try these side by side. If you come in tomorrow, you will also be able to participate in the downtown Holiday Open House event. Over thirty participating merchants, including yours truly, will be kicking off the holiday season with promotions, sales, and fun activities. We will be giving away the gift basket pictured above (full of gourmet goodies!) to one lucky winner. You can enter your name tomorrow, and we’ll choose the winner on Monday. Good luck!–Holly Fike

*Code good for two four ounce cups of Organic Balinese: one washed and one natural. Code expires on 11.14.13. Limit one time per week per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.

Today marks the beginning of the holiday season around here. We have gift crates piled up ready to go, gift baskets tucked in anywhere we can fit them, and our holiday drink list is posted on the front counter (you can see it in detail here). It’s quite a transition from the small gathering we had of family and friends yesterday. Of course, one of the things we are grateful for in our

Our Thanksgiving table.

family is a thriving small business in a beautiful small town–a good attitude to focus on in the rush of this season.

From Thanksgiving to Christmas we have the challenge in our family of finding the balance between the joy and peace of the season and the busyness of being in retail. Trace and I are at Carolines longer hours: there’s more coffee to roast, more customers to help, and even more bills to pay. Fortunately we both love the social interaction, even when front counter turns into a zoo. It’s fun to see all of you, and to meet new customers. The other day (what are the odds?), we had three different roasters in the store within eight hours. Your stories are interesting, as are your questions, whether you come from another country or down the street.

We are open until 9 pm tonight for the first Cornish Christmas. If you’ve never been to this downtown event, it has been a tradition in Grass Valley for 45 years, with local artisans selling their wares on the streets while musicians young and old keep the atmosphere cheerful. There are hot roasted chestnuts, the stores are open late, and there’s even a Santa’s Workshop for the young ones. My kids came with me to work today, and they’ve been asking all day if we can go to Cornish Christmas yet. Did I mention there is a kettle corn vendor? That might be the most popular booth among the youth in my family.

If you are headed to Cornish Christmas with your family, come on in and try a cup of our 2012 Christmas Coffee. This year’s coffee debuted this week, and it’s a limited edition blend that we carry from now until New Year’s. The picture to the right is the front label, and the following text is from the back label:

“We watch and taste all year for unique and great coffees to incorporate into our Christmas blend. We look for beans that complement each other in special ways. Blends might not be in vogue right now with the glitterati of the coffee world, but we love them regardless. It’s so much fun to taste and blend and blend and taste to find the perfect balance.

This year’s blend includes our fabulous Balinese, an awesome Celebes (Sulawesi), a very clean Fair Trade Guatemalan, the ever trusty San Augustine Colombian, and a little dark roast for extra body. We hope you enjoy! –The Carolines Crew”

You can see both labels in detail on our blog here. You can have a twelve ounce cup of our Christmas Coffee free of charge by mentioning the code in red above (it’s roasted chestnuts). If you’re visiting from out of town, welcome! To all of you, may you find joy in this busy season and a moment to enjoy a cup of good coffee.

Like this:

Okay you all, we’ve got a fall giveaway for you. We’ve been extremely busy over here and I thought that this would be a good way to say thanks. You are the reason that we are in business–and besides, giveaways are just plain fun!

I put together a goodie basket this morning, and it’s displayed on the front counter if you would like to check it out. For those of you who can’t make it in, it contains: a green houndstooth ceramic travel mug, an Apricot Pineapple Tangerine Jam from Earth and Vine in Loomis, Lemon-Lavender shortbread from the McTavish company, a Cranberry Blood Orange Fair Trade Tea, two Organic Chocolates, and a pound of our Kona Extra Fancy. How does that sound?

In order to win the basket, you need to leave a comment on this blog post, or come on in and fill out an entry form. We’ll leave the contest open until next Monday–check back for a winner then. You can also check our facebook page for more information.

Edited:: The winner is Susan Otto! We added all the blog post comment entries to those that were filled out at the store, and drew her name out of the box. Thanks so much for all of your kind comments: we’ll have another giveaway to celebrate our wonderful customers soon, so keep an eye on our facebook page. –HF